Happy Christmas from Cambodia!

It is the 22nd December 2007 and as I write this entry, I have never felt so far removed from Christmas as I do this year…… and that is not a bad thing! No frenetic shopping, food preparation or over indulgence, as is often the way at this time of year.

I have now moved up North to Mongol Borei to live in one of my new houses, see photo, and to work in the local hospital. My first week has been busy with me preparing two submissions for funding on behalf of the Hospital for training and equipment. One has been successful in that I have secured funding, but the real victory will be when some one from the hospital submits the next application with my support……. success comes in small measures.

I feel very happy here in my house. I live on the top floor and the owner and family live underneath on the ground floor, so that makes feel secure and that someone is looking out for me and my security. I go to the Market most days to purchase fresh produce for dinner. Today being Saturday I had a lie in until 6.15 am! And then cycled up to Sisophon for a few key supplies….. milk as a source of calcium being the main one. I also had good fun walking round the market, trying on jeans with a towel tied round me and joking, yes joking, in Khmer with the stall holders! I have adopted a philosophy that if I try to speak Khmer and make a fool of myself, at least it can be the basis of a joke and therefore a relationship forming opportunity! That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!

My next blog will focus on the hospitals, but in the meantime I want to wish you all a merry Christmas and Happy New Year for 2008. I have been overwhelmed by the support I have received from lots of you who read this blog, and the good will that is extended to the Cambodian people expressed through your messages. 2007 has been amazing year for me. On the 31st December 2006 I made the decision that I wanted to work overseas, and 12 months later here I am in Cambodia!

Recently someone very important to me asked me what ambitions I had in life. This is my answer:
When I’m old I’m never to say “I didn’t do this” or I regret that.” I’m going to say “I don’t regret a thing, I came, I went, I did it all and hopefully made a difference along the way!”



New-Year? ....Bring it On!

Rural scenes

Mekong Sunset

Evening sun setting over the Mekong

Life on the river

Fisher people on the Mekong!

Village Life

The village wot and Buddha

Cambodian Home-stay

As part of our cultural orientation to Cambodia we spent 24 hours living with a family in a small village, about 18 km away from Kampong Cham. The overall aim is help us understand more about the way of life for Cambodian villagers and support greater cultural understanding in both our work lives and the communities in which we will live for the next two years.

I stayed with a farmer, his wife, and two children. There was an extension to the family unit with his mother-in-law, sister-in-law’s one year old son and another young girl living in the one household. The house is a traditional wooden one, with day to day living happening under the house and sleeping on the fall in the upstairs area. I was greeted as a long lost friend into the family, and I learned so much about Cambodian life and language. I was guided around the wot (temple), the paddy fields and walked to the market the next morning, much to the amusement of the stall holders. I slept on the floor, sharing the same space as the rest of the family but wasafforded some privacy by some pieces of material hanging from nails and my mosquito net.

I will admit to feeling quite cynical about the home stay before hand, but I gained so much from it. I have attached some photos that might help to share the experience.

Grafting hard!

Eric, me and Tim in our Khmer lesson......

Lazy Mekong Days

Hard at it again!

More Crazy Mekong nights in Phnom Penh

This is me doing the Crazy V.

Going Crazy in Phnom Penh

Delia, Tania and me in a tuk tuk I think!

Meet the family

Collette and I seated; back: left to right: Tim, Delia, Eric, Emily and Tania doing the crazy V sign! Don't ask, its a family joke!

Week 6 in the Big Brother House……..

Let me explain. On arriving in Cambodia I joined a group of 7 other volunteers who arrived to work on the livelihoods and health programmes with VSO. Ever since that day we have been living side by side with each other both in the VSO programme office in Phnom Penh and the VSO house in Kampong Cham which is three hours from Phnom Penh. The only time we have had apart is when we have visited our placements for 4 days, and when one of goes off to spend the weekend by the coast or Siem Reap. Hence, at times it has been like living in the BB house! These 6 people have become my surrogate family here in Cambodia and we will provide a great support network for each other whilst we are here over the next 2 years. I have attached some photos of the family for your interest!

So what else has been happening? Well, last weekend I took myself to Siem Reap to run in the Angkor Wat half marathon. I entered the race a couple months when I was at home, as I was worried about getting my regular endorphin fix! I registered on Friday night and pitched up at Angkor Wat at 5.30 am the next day only to discover that the ½ marathon was on the Sunday morning! The police thought it was hilarious……. Bless!

The next morning I caught my tuk tuk back up to the start. It was really busy was there was a series of races including ½ marathon, 10K, 5km and 3km….. something for everyone. I set off, and led until 18km….and then I blew. For the last 3 km I could all but keep going. I committed the cardinal sin of racing. I let the occasion go to my head and completely abandoned my original race plan. I ended up 4th woman and have a nasty blister on my left foot just to keep me reminded of my stupidity. But hey, it happens to the best of us including the greats such a Lance Armstrong and Haile Salassi, so I’m not on my own on this one. Racing aside, I got to run round one of the most amazing and mind blowing historical sites in the world…. a real privilege, and it somewhere that I will be returning to spend days exploring the ancient complex and temples. Siem Reap is quite a nice town too with nice places to eat out, shops etc. but it is full of Berang ( the term is used widely to describe all people with white skin but actually means French!)

On Monday it was back to basics and there is no where to hide from Dara our Khmer teacher. It is amazing, but we are all so worried about being left behind that we catch up on notes if we miss a class and do homework religiously every night……. If only I had worked so hard at University!

This weekend we go on a “home stay” meaning, we stay with a local family and have experience of local family life in the community, how people live, cook and sleep. Should be interesting and I will let you know how we get on!